The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1887-06-23

ourselves, for we entertain a couple of
hundred thousand strangers here every day,
many of whom come here on purpose to
have a good time and throw away their
money. Then, on our own account, we have
large population of people from what
might be called the drinking countries of
Europe. AT present, for the first time in
our history, our laws are being generally
enforced, and this enforcement has shown
lis how unsuited to cosmopolitan commu-
nifty they are.
Their enforcement has aroused deep dis
cussiOn of the subject of reforming Them
and with very interesting and curious eff
facts The advanced and liberal thought on
the subject, as represented by Mayor Hew-
tits views, is that we should allow drinking
places to be open between and after church
services on Sunday for the benefit OF our
foreign population, which sees no harm in
drinking light wines and beer, and will sell
them and drink them, no matter what the
laws are. 1t seems to be decided also that
the best system of dealing with the saloon
traffic is the high licenses-at 81 900, or, at
| least S500-so as to enforce responsibility
for obedience to the law and make the
dealers interested in closing unlicensed and
improper places that get the advantage of
| them. But the Prohibitionists, the small
hand-to-mouth saloonkeepers and the keep
ers of disorderly places have joined hands,
and are working side by side against the
proposition. Their combination suits the
countrymen in the Legislature, who make
all our laws and most of our official absurd
tiles and troubles.
The saloonlleepers of New York are an
| ignorant and stupid lot, as a rule-a harsh
| assertion, but one justified by knowledge
and that will be corroborated by the more
| intelligent ones in the business. The enor-
nous profits of a business that can be
! efn 1tnI 10 Ii
at all but the backing of a brewer, and that
affords margin of 328c. between the pur
chase and selling price of glass of beer at
tracts the stupid and the lazy, while
the social ban under which the trade
rests in the dominant Anglo-Saxon mind
fails to keep out only the morally calouS
man of that particular nationality. This is
true mainly of the whisky trade. The beer
business is practically controlled by Ger
mans who used to keep corner groceries with
barrooms in the rear. The law obliged the
| two businesses to be divorced, and the ma
| jority of the grocers, seeing the immense
profits in the drink trade, abandoned the
groceries and opened saloons.
The main trouble with our business, -
said a leading and law abiding saloonkeep-
er to me the other day, lis with the men
| engaged in it. They do not look ahead
| They temporize with brides and evasions
| score of us have tried again and again to
organize the saloonkeepers, but the only
| organizations that hang together are kept
| intact for social purposes, for drinking
bouts, dances, picnics and good fell
| lowship generally. There is thunder
| in the air for the liquor trade all
over the country, and the lightning bolts
can only be escaped in those commu-
| mites where the liquor dealers are known to
| be interested in compelling obedience to the
| law and roofing out the bad characters in
| the business. But there are other troubles
| The main one is with the brewers. They are
| such stiff competitors in business and are SO
| greedy for gain that they are to he found
| backing almost all the immoral and
illegal resorts in the city. The other trouble
| is with certain officials. The trade has
| been SO used to getting favors and protec-
| ton by gift of a little money here and
| there, where it will do the most good, that
when we talk high license at a meeting a
| SCORE of men are sure to shout No; no. If
we pay 81, 900 for a license somebody around
the corneTwill get along withoutany license
at all by arranging with the excise inspec-
| tors and the police 1t may not be so, but
that is what they think"
We have now the most virtuous and
strictest excise board within our memory
and it is ruling the trade with an iron hand
aud squeezing it in the bargain. Excise
| Commissioner Won Claim tells me that the
licenses from hotels, barrooms and stores
where liquor is sold will amount to 81, 200,-
| 900 during 1881 He and his colleagues
| have raised the fees to $3.50
| for a flrst-class hotel, to $500
for a second-class hotel, to $500
for saloon licenses, $50 for ale, wine and
beer. and $50 for ale and beer. For store
keepers whose stock is not drunk on the
premises, from $3.50 to $50 is levied, &C
cording to the receipts of the place There
are now 9,167 licenses, 1000 of which are
last year, and $685., 345 the year before, Sc
! that we are about to make an unprecedented
revenue from the trade.
| JULIAN RALPH.